Backlash forces end to Israel boycott

Josephine Tovey

THE Marrickville mayor, Fiona Byrne, will try to end a boycott of Israel after an intense political and community backlash, death threats and a collapse in support on the council, conceding it is ''impractical and untenable''.

But the mayor, who would not rule out another tilt at state politics, is unwavering in her support for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and will tomorrow call on the council to offer its in-principle support only.

Cr Byrne, speaking publicly for the first time since failing to win the seat of Marrickville at the state election, said she did not think the controversial original motion, which called for a boycott of ''all goods made in Israel and any sporting, academic institutions, government or institutional cultural exchanges", was wrong.

Following a recent council report showing it would cost $3.7 million to fully implement, Cr Byrne said it was ''impractical''.

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''I must be financially responsible to my community, and I certainly would not put my community under a financial burden to implement it,'' she said, adding she was proud of the council for supporting the rights of the Palestinian people.

''It has got people talking about an issue that previously was invisible,'' she said. ''Is it the right thing to support the BDS campaign? Yes. I think it is.''

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The move comes after a tumultuous four days that saw support crumple among Labor councillors and one Green, Max Phillips, who said they would not support putting it into practice.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, labelled the policy ''nuts'' and the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, threatened to sack the council if it proceeded.

Pro-Palestinian groups and people such as Julian Burnside, QC, have supported the boycott.

The Greens leader, Bob Brown, who does not support the boycott movement, blamed the policy for the Greens not winning the state seat of Marrickville, despite earlier prediction they would.

But Cr Byrne does not share his view. ''Some people would argue that the carbon tax at the federal level was in people's minds when they went to vote, some people would argue that it was BDS, '' she said. ''I don't believe you can put it down to one individual thing.''

Cr Byrne said the only mistake she and other councillors had made was not better educating the public about the international boycott movement. ''We certainly didn't have time to educate people about what the campaign is and why it exists.''

Councillors will meet tomorrow night to discuss the report, made public last week, on the potential cost of the boycott.

Cr Byrne's new motion, which calls for in-principle support to be maintained but no practical boycotts implemented, will be put alongside another motion from the independent councillor Victor Macri, who has opposed the boycott from the beginning.

His motion calls for it to be overturned and for the council to ''acknowledge that Australian foreign policy is the responsibility of the Commonwealth government and not local government''.

Cr Macri also asked the council's general manager, Ken Gainger, how much money had so far been spent on the policy. Mr Gainger said any figure would be speculative.

''I am advised that council has not incurred any direct expenditure in administering this decision to date as no boycott is currently in place,'' he says in meeting business papers.

But Mr Gainger also noted the controversy surrounding the boycott has become a ''distraction'' for staff from other work.